Providing the abused with access to justice

According to the Colorado-based National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in four women and one in nine men experience some form of domestic abuse in the United States. For many, who could not afford a lawyer even if they knew one, the shame, fear, pain, and uncertainty are compounded by a sense of helplessness. 

Indeed, Cindy Kanusher, executive director of the Pace Women”™s Justice Center ”“ a nonprofit at Pace University”™s Elisabeth Haub School of Law in White Plains ”“ says the most common thing she hears at the center”™s four-year-old Walk-in Clinic, which has about 900 consultations a year, is “I don”™t know what to do.” 

Fortunately, the center ”“ which will mark 30 years of protecting the abused with its “Raising the Bar Benefit Concert” Oct. 6 at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester to launch Domestic Violence Awareness Month ”“ knows just what to do. It has a variety of free services to address what Kanusher says is a growing problem, worsened, like so many things, by Covid. 

“We”™ve seen about a 20% increase in the number of individuals we”™ve helped (at the Walk-in Clinic),” she says. “During Covid, it became very difficult for people in domestic violence situations to reach out for help. They couldn”™t do it in a safe way” ”“ because there were no vaccines at the time and the justice system, like virtually everything else, was in lockdown; and because the abused were confined with their abusers. 

“Historically,” Kanusher adds, “domestic violence is underreported and it continues to be. People are afraid or hesitant to reach out to the police”¦.” 

And while 95% of abuse sufferers are women ”“ more than half of those the center sees being financially strapped, Spanish-speaking women of color ”“ domestic violence affects others as well, taking many forms. To meet these challenges, the center has a variety of programs, aiding more than 3,500 survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and elder abuse in Westchester and Putnam counties, while also conducting and participating in more than 140 training and outreach events each year.  Besides the Walk-in Clinic at 78 N. Broadway, the center”™s services include: The Family Court Legal Program, which has offices in the Family Courts in White Plains and Yonkers. There the abused can get an order of protection and file for custody and support, Kanusher says; The Uncontested Divorce Program, which represents clients in simple divorce cases; The Family Law Unit, which handles contested divorces, custody, support, and order-of-protection cases for qualifying individuals in the Family and Supreme courts; The Sexual Assault Unit, aiding victims of assault, including in Title IX cases; And the Elder Justice Unit, which has 150 to 160 clients a year. While domestic violence ranges over a swath of personal relationships, elder abuse is even broader, Kanusher says, because it goes beyond familial abuse and neglect to embrace everything from scammers to difficult neighbors to uncooperative insurers. In one case involving a senior couple, whose house was damaged by a fallen tree, the justice center helped settle the ongoing insurance claim, she adds.  

An Irvington resident, Kanusher has been at the justice center since 1998 and its executive director for eight years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandeis University, where she majored in English, and her Juris Doctor degree from Brooklyn Law School. 

“I”™ve always been drawn to the area of law where I could help people and use the legal system to get justice for people.” 

For 10 years, she was an assistant district attorney in Manhattan, prosecuting cases involving child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence. Now instead of working on such cases in the criminal courts, she and the center are approaching them in the civil courts while also coordinating with counselors, shelters and other service organizations to counter domestic violence”™s ripple effects. But, she says, in the end, it”™s all about the same thing:  Giving people in need an access to justice. 

The “Raising the Bar Benefit Concert,” at 8 p.m. Oct. 6 at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, features singer-songwriter and Broadway star Sara Bareilles. For tickets, which are limited, and sponsorships, call 914-422-4396 or click here.”¯ 

For the Pace Women”™s Justice Center helpline, call 914-287-0739.